Guest RDWolff

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I think you have a good start on this piece, I always enjoy your posts. Your lion gave me an idea on a fountain design, I have been trying to decide what type of fountain to design, maybe a traditional lion head fountain is the answer. Denice

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was that hotel the Pontiac? something else before the word Pontiac or after it. or maybe the Book Cadillac?

Detroit had a lot of beautiful buildings with fabulous tilework by Pewabic. I was born there and I lived in awe of the architecture . so many public spaces were filled with such wonderful things that are no longer around. belle isle park had fabulous fountains of marble and bronze. I remember being driven to the park to cool off on hot summer nights in the 1940s. hudson's department store had 13 stories of shopping downtown in a great building with tiles around the drinking fountains on each floor.

the decorative uses of terracotta outside was outstanding. similar things can be seen in new York's Tribeca area. nostalgia.......................

I hope your lions will be used somewhere visible by the public and they that will be inspiring to someone young.

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That would be that you are making more of a monkey with a mane than a lion, with the round head, bulbous maw and nose that is balloon shape ... you are missing some of the subtly that is inherent with a giant cat. the nose should blend into the upper lip, have a flat top on the nose ridge the bottom jaw be slightly smaller and while the head and the maw are two different aspects, they should blend a little more which can be done by shaping the top of the head from a ball to more of a tear drop shape since there isn't really a defined cheek bone ridge like that of a monkey. It's a tiny change, but again ... it's about subtlety when working with a relief like that.

I do like the stylizing of the mane though, it adds something that works well with the simple strength of the head. Can't wait to see it finished.

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Getting there slowly but surely, I did some minor tweeks today after that picture, I got busy on other things, but I'll probably play with it tomorrow.

When I hollow it out from the back soon, I will now be hollowing things out more than before since I do plan on firing this in the kiln at some point after a mold is made of it.

I usually have made the molds when the models are bone dry, but I did a test making a silicone mold of a still damp model as Smooth-On tech support said the formula I use can be used even underwater, maybe molding this before it's dry and shrinks will be good to keep the full size. Stiil, I don't really want to spend the $200 right now on materials when I don't have an actual sale pending on a cast of it.

I'll probably take it to cone 1 which will be slightly darker than the cone 01 sample in this image:

That's a nice-looking clay below cone 4. I live in Lizella so I'm always pushing Lizella Red. Have you ever tired it? At cone 4 it would still be a lot closer to the cone 01 color than the sample above, so maybe harder and more durable.

Jim

Jim

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I love the history of the design. It's sad, that such unique buildings have been abandoned and forgotten. New buildings just don't have the care and attention to detail, the old buildings did. And it's not just hotels and office buildings. Take churches for example. Old churches used to be brick and stone, with a lot of architectural designs, and of course, some nice stained glass windows. Now, they are steel skinned, and could easily be confused with a structure, that could be found on a farmstead housing a tractor.

Also, I love that winged lion sculpture. How do you load that into the kiln?

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, (dammmmcaps lock) ceramics monthly ran an article on very large horses fired in place with combustible materials piled around them. they were done in India, if I am remembering it correctly, and were lifesize. can one of the staff find this article?